I have received email from a friend regarding switching from MS Windows and other propietary software to GNU/Linux and open source software. This is especially after reading news about raids in offices. For example, sometime ago there was news in inq7 which had this for a title: PNP, NBI joins anti-piracy campaign, warn of more raids. And of course, here’s something from BSA.
Switching to open source software might not be for everybody. At least not right away. It depends on each person, methinks. There are certain things that people have to deal with. For one thing, getting over the intimidation factor called the command line. Some people still think that the command line is intimidating. Currently, there are desktop environments that make using GNU/Linux easy.
Things to consider include:
- your needs in terms of software,
- your hardware specifications, and
- your willingness and openness to learn.
There are various software out there that you could check out. Personally, I know people who haven’t shifted to using open source software because they haven’t found open source software that have met their needs. That or they still prefer Windows as their operating system and they use a mixture of open source software and proprietary software. This is especially for those who share their computers with other people at home. Anyhow, the way I see it, more often than not, it’s more of the openness to new software that might sometimes be difficult to cultivate. However, for people who are not afraid to try new things, there is not much of a problem at all.
These are lists of free and open source software:
Ever wondered about trying them out yourself? Go ahead and take that leap! And on Saturday, there is a celebration called Software Freedom Day. It will be a day of demonstrations of free and open source software and some talks as well. Details are here.
